"More Houses!"

An overdue and quick update on Halloween: it was a huge success. Despite Sam's initial trepidation about his costume, he wanted in on the action as soon as he saw the other kids in the neighborhood dressed up, . We took some photos with the neighbors before trick-or-treating. Again, once Sam got the hang of it, he couldn't get enough. He loved knocking on the doors and putting candy in his pumpkin. He kept saying "more houses," and we made the rounds for about an hour before he started yanking at his costume to take it off (it was admittedly a little bulky, but perfect given the chilly temps).

I'd say it was the best Halloween I've had since I was a kid, and I'm pretty sure Sam will be looking forward to it again next year.

Going Bananas!

We're going bananas for Halloween around our house. Hope your day is spooktacular!

The Great Pumpkin

We carved pumpkins this afternoon - a first for Sam. He wasn't very excited about reaching in and pulling out the goo, and come to think of it, he wasn't that excited about anything but tasting it (ick). Steve did most of the heavy lifting, and we were both surprised that the entire project only took about 40 minutes. We both had memories of it taking hours.

Next up: getting Sam to wear his costume. We've sold in the idea - when you ask him what he's going to be for Halloween, he'll tell you, but he refuses to put the costume on. We're cautiously optimistic that the tide will turn by next weekend, but you never know!

Baptism Day for Charlotte Grace

Now that I've started to get out from underneath my bronchitis, I can finally post about our weekend in Minneapolis. It was filled to the brim with friends and family and the highlight was being there in person for Charlotte's baptism. It was a perfect day and Charlotte was a perfect baby. She hardly made a peep the entire time we were in church (Sam and Claire made up for it) and seemed to relish the house full of people for brunch.

I only walked away with a couple of snapshots. I'm learning that it's not exactly easy to pull out the camera when there are a handful of toddlers at play!

A Few of Sam's Favorite Things

Here’s a list of Sam’s favorite things at the moment. It changes a lot, but it’s still worth noting because as he nears his second birthday he is getting more and more passionate (read: temperamental) about his likes and dislikes. I didn't include cars, trucks, trains or diggers since those were covered in a previous post, but they would still be close to the top of the list.

· Running back and forth in the hallway – This has quickly risen to the top as one of Sam’s favorite activities. He likes it best right after bath time. He also enjoys it a lot when Mom and Dad get in the mix.
· Walking – remember that really fancy stroller we bought for Sam? I can’t remember the last time he wanted to ride in it. He walks everywhere – including Target and the grocery store, which makes for some very slow-going errands
· Mr. Monkey – Sam’s stuffed monkey doubles as his best buddy. We feed Mr. Monkey, change his diaper and put him to bed. Steve and I have learned exactly what we say and do by watching Sam take care of Mr. Monkey.
· Reading – the other night we were at a friend’s house when Sam suddenly disappeared. When we called his name, he yelled from upstairs (with a somewhat impatient tone), “I’m reading!”
· Cooking – we make waffles almost every weekend and Sam’s a great helper. We made Pumpkin Bread last night and he was the greatest sous chef ever
· The Cubs – despite the Cubs not-so-stellar season, Sam still became a die-hard fan. He loves his baseball bat, pretending he’s pitching and reading his Cubs books.
· Bathtime – this one is a perennial favorite and I can’t really see it going out of vogue anytime soon. The kid’s face totally lights up when it’s bathtime and it’s all we can do from keep him from jumping in with his clothes on. I suppose that’s a sign that I should get him back into swimming lessons pronto!

VROOM!!!

I'm not sure if it's part of being a kid or part of being a boy, but Sam truly loves moving vehicles. And the bigger the better! From bikes and buses to tractors, taxis and dump trucks, he can't get enough. Just today we went to Celtic Fest and what interested him most was a semi truck that was parked nearby. Thank goodness we live near a fire station that's filled with some of the nicest fire fighters around. They always invite us in to take a close look at the fire trucks and occasionally they even let Sam sit in one of them. Sam got lucky a couple weeks ago and Steve snapped these pictures. The third one is from our trip to the Farm in the City last weekend. Again, Sam was surrounded by cows, pigs, sheeps and chickens, but the tractor was by far the biggest hit!

I've been really bad about keeping up with the blog. Sorry! I've been busy trying to keep everything afloat and still make it to bed by 10 p.m. every night. Not an easy feat.

In the last few weeks Sam has been transformed into a little boy. He's been growing like mad, his vocab is exploding and he has two scraped up knees -- testaments to how much he loves running and playing in the park. He loves helping us in the kitchen and can't get enough of the 18 million balls we have laying around the house. He runs "bases" in the backyard while yelling, "home run, home run!" To say he's all boy would be a serious understatement.

He's also learned how to assert himself and throw a well-timed tantrum, but those are the less than glamorous details that aren't worth focusing on (at least in this medium)!